Current Affairs

7th September 2007

10:04 AM — The Conservative party is well-known for its ad campaigns.From the iconic 1979 "Labour isn't working" posters, to the "Demon Eyes" of Tony Blair in the 1997 election campaign, through to the "Five Pledges" of Michael "are you thinking what I am thinking" Howard in 2005, never let it be said that the Tory party were short of a strategy. Some, of course, more successful than others.Today marks a new stage in the party's attempts to disseminate its message to the voters.

7:50 AM — The Conservative Party has taken further steps towards engaging with the gay community by today advertising with PinkNews.co.uk, the community's leading news provider.The advertisements feature party leader David Cameron alongside a series of messages on a variety of campaign issues.The advertisements on PinkNews.co.uk are believed to be the party's first political advertising campaign in the gay media.

6th September 2007

6:53 PM — In what could lead to a landmark judgement, an adviser to the European Court of Justice has said that a German gay man is entitled to a payment from the pension of his dead partner.Tadao Maruko is asking the court to grant him a widower's allowance from the insurance policy his partner took out with the German Theatre Pension Institution.The insurer has rejected his claim to the allowance of €6,400 (£4,330) on the grounds they only make such payments to spouses and not registered partners.

6:25 PM — Thousands of police and soldiers will be on the streets of the Austrian capital Vienna tomorrow as Pope Benedict XVI begins his three-day tour of the country.The authorities are expecting a significant demonstration against the presence of the Roman Catholic leader by Socialist youth organisations opposed to his hardline stance on homosexuality and other social issues."He doesn't want us to marry, to live in legal partnerships," Christian Hougel, an Austrian gay rights activists, told AP.

5:35 PM — Fred Thompson, the former US Senator, best known as the star of police procedural drama Law Order, chose his appearance last night on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President.The actor, lawyer and politician, who is a conservative, is in pole position to take the nomination.Many Republicans see former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as too liberal on gay rights and abortion.

4:01 PM — The only two openly gay members of the United States Congress testified yesterday about new legislation to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people at work.Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and Congressman Barney Frank appeared before the House Health, Employment, Labour and Pensions subcommittee and spoke in favour of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).The proposed legislation seeks to extend federal employment discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

3:15 PM — The Northern Ireland Assembly Ombudsman has ruled that a junior minister in the province's government did not break the code of conduct when he called gay people repulsive.Ian Paisley Jnr, who is the son and namesake of the Democratic Unionist First Minister, told Hotpress magazine in May that lesbians and gay men harm society.He was appointed a junior minister in the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister by his father.

1:22 PM — Stonewall Scotland has criticised the Scottish government for failing to make progress on hate crimes legislation.The Scottish National Party-led administration has been in power since May.The nationalists, along with their coalition partners the Greens, made a manifesto commitment to introduce legislation that would punish crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity.

12:23 PM — The deputy Mayor of Moscow responded to calls for a compromise over gay rights marches in the city by calling activists provocateurs and accusing Western governments of trying to "pull us into a new dimension on the discussion on human rights using the topic of sexual minorities."In January the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, wrote to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an attempt to find a compromise that would allow Moscow Pride 2007 to take place. The event was banned in 2006.

11:20 AM — An independent inquiry has found that managers and social workers from a local council were so concerned about not appearing homophobic that they overlooked warning signs about two gay foster parents who were sexually abusing children.Ian Wathey, 40, and Craig Faunch, 32, from Pontefract in West Yorkshire, were jailed in June 2006 for five and six years respectively for abusing four boys in their care.The report, published yesterday, made 41 recommendations.

10:35 AM — An Atlanta attorney who was subjected to anti-gay remarks and later assaulted during a visit to a health club recently filed suit after the company failed to address his complaint about the altercation.According to a press release issued by his laywers, Seth Persily filed a lawsuit August 7th against L.A. Fitness claiming that an employee at one of its facilities in Atlanta made anti-gay comments and later accosted him in a locker-room on July 18th.L.A. Fitness in the UK have no connection with the company involved in the legal action.

5th September 2007

12:02 AM — Eighteen members of a Turkish LGBT association which also represents transvestites have been arrested in the city of Bursa for "forming a gang to commit crimes, being an associate with a gang, and inciting prostitution."Turkish activists are divided as to the accuracy of the charge, but are warning the police could use the incident to harass other LGBT groups.The arrests follow tense relations between police and the 'Rainbow Association' and speculations about the activities of the group's president, Oyku Erven.

12:02 AM — A Shariah court in Malaysia has annulled a marriage between a two women, one of which is a transvestite.The court, in southern Malacca, said Mohamad Sofian Mohamad and Zaiton Aziz would have to separate because Mohamad Sofian had female genitals, despite her male attire and close cropped hair.Originally named Mazinah Mohamad, she was allowed to change her name due to an administrative oversight and the couple married in a Malacca mosque in 2002.

12:02 AM — LGBT lawyers are less likely to feel satisfied with their professional counterparts, a new study has revealed.The survey of active attorneys in Denver found LGBT lawyers shared many of the problems of their ethnic minority counterparts.Members of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgendered Bar Association reported higher levels of dissatisfaction with the complexities of their work, access to clients and career advancement opportunities.

12:02 AM — Events surrounding anti-gay Republican senator Larry Craig, who resigned last Saturday following an arrest for lewd conduct in a public bathroom, continue to develop as Washington remains awash with rumour and speculation about the controversy.Media reports are suggesting he may reconsider his resignation if cleared of the charges, while his legal team simultaneously fight to cancel the guilty plea he made following the arrest.Meanwhile, a visit from two of his children last week led to an extended interview on ABC where they stressed their father was not gay and said he was disappointed at the lack of support shown by his Republican colleagues.

12:02 AM — Poland's most influential cardinal has launched a broadside attack on a notorious radio station branded anti-Semitic and homophobic by its critics.Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Archbishop of Krakow, spelt out fears that the position of the church in Poland was increasingly being confused with those of Radio Maryja, run by Fr Tadeusz Rydzyk - a Redemptorist monk."Pastoral work is gradually slipping out of bishops' control and into the hands of others," he said.

12:02 AM — Former Eastenders star and Labour MEP for the West Midlands, Michael Cashman, has hit back at Tory MP Michael Ancram for his comments on civil unions yesterday.Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Ancram said treating civil unions like normal marriages "insults the intelligence of the British people."He continued: "They are not the equivalent of marriage.

4th September 2007

5:11 PM — In a clear statement of intent Democratic party National Committee Chair and former leadership nominee Howard Dean has told US gays to vote for his party if they want to improve their legal rights."I think the message is pretty clear," he said. "Vote Democrat and we'll make the changes you're looking for."Mr Dean claimed a host of measures which protect gay rights and outlaw discrimination had been achieved because of the Democratic party.

4:18 PM — Paris' openly gay Mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, has confirmed he will run for a second term and outlined a green, socially conscious programme for re-election."My programme is aimed at placing Paris ahead of the curve," Mr Delanoe told Le Parisien.The confirmation of his campaign has done little to stifle suggestions he could become 2012 presidential candidate for the Socialists, however.

3:29 PM — Gay rights group Stonewall has asked to meet representatives of the world's largest law firm, Clifford Chance, following a sexual discrimination case brought against them by a former partner.The sexual orientation claim by former competition partner Michael Bryceland was the first of its kind against a UK law firm, but it was settled in April for an undisclosed amount.The firm has failed, however, to respond to Stonewall's request for a meeting.

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